today the kinder saw the space where they will create their garden.
—
“why try to explain miracles to your children when you can have them plant a garden?”
-*janet kilburn phillips
*Janet is a gardener who found that she had to employ a growth mindset when she moved to the United States from England. She had previously been creating English cottage gardens but encountered challenges when she tried to grow them in a drastically different climate and in heavy clay soil. After experimenting with her gardens she created a CD called English Cottage Gardening — American Style. She adapted and persevered and found a new way to succeed at something that she loved.
“april hath put a spirit of youth in everything.”
-william shakespeare
at the store in aisle seven
looking over things for my classroom
this came into view
let me double check,
no,
guillotine not on my wishlist.
—
“ever since my childhood, i was haunted by the search for perfection.
an imperfectly cut paper literally made me ill. i would guillotine it.”
-hans arp, french-german sculptor, painter, and collagist
—
spending the recent past writing report cards
for the kinder
always a fascinating trip down memory lane
seeing how far they’ve come already
an unlimited distance still to go
the good, the bad, and the unexplained
all the good hearts, dramas, tears, and laughs
each their very own person
learning as we go.
all of us.
—
*more of frank the puppy’s report card:
“We sent him there because he is truly the most energetic puppy I have ever met,” his mom told Newsweek. “Our older dog needed a break,” she joked.
When Frank came home with the report card, she was in stitches. “I thought it was hysterical when I saw it because I can only imagine that Frank is probably the class clown that’ll do anything for a laugh and that’s definitely his idea of the best time,” she said.
Described on the card as the “life of the party,” the report also says that Frank loved wrestling with his buddies.
“It makes my heart so happy to know that he has so many pals at preschool,” said Spahr. Working on etiquette skills in his preschool class, the report also told Frank’s owners that his best friends are Daisy, Cooper, Vader, Hudson, and even a dog named Angus Beef.
—
“my report card always said, ‘jim finishes first and then disrupts the other students.”
-jim carrey
—
credits: newsweek magazine uk, alice gibbs
no matter how tired you are
when coming into the faculty room
to grab a cup of coffee
at the start of another day
look closely at the flavorings offered
choose wisely.
what will it be today?
caramel? chocolate? or bleach water?
—
“once you make a choice, you have no choice.”
-anna chin-williams
—
photo credit: c. hull – thank you!
she remembered off and on
throughout the afternoon
why she needed to leave school and go home
she tried calling on the old wood phone
told us she did not need to be here
told us her mom misses her
gave us so many, many reasons
and finally
she came up with my favorite:
“i need to go home…….to fix my hair!”
well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?
of course you do
we reminded her that mom would be back pretty soon
and in the meantime
we marched around like big dinosaurs
laughing and playing
ate applesauce and ran around outside
on a cool almost fall day
hair flying in the wind.
-aleksandar hemon, the lazarus project
“i’ve always loved the first day of school better than the last day of school.
firsts are best because they are beginnings. “
-jenny han
—
art credit: *sharon france, ‘the old schoohouse,’ acrylic on stretched canvas
*artist’s comments: this painting is from my imagination of an old white schoolhouse in a quiet county setting. these old schoolhouses once dotted the countryside, close enough for children to walk to in most weather.
it’s that time of year again
move-in week
the uni students have newly arrived or returned
for a year of who knows what lies ahead
the stores, the streets, the students
are full of excitement, fear, questions, hopes
and a broom, a big mirror, and a case of ramen noodles or two.
—
“i move in the university of the waves.”
-pablo neruda
What better place to learn your ABC’s and 123’s than inside of a giant building shaped like a cat?
The kids who attend Kindergarten in Karlsruhe, Germany, do so in a giant feline.
Constructed in 2011 and designed by artist, Tomi Ungerer and architect, Ayla Suzan Yöndel, the whimsical kindergarten is in a big white cat building that includes a door for a mouth below a whisker-lined nose, windows for eyes, and a classroom in its belly. For added fun, kids can even ride down its tail that doubles as a slide.
In terms of architecture that inspires a playful imagination, the Kindergarten Wolfartsweier is remarkable for its embrace of an alternative, animalistic design for what a school can be.
“design is where science and art break even.”
-robin mathew(s)
—
source credits: Atlas Obscura, My Modern Met, Milk magazine, inthralled.com,
I didn't have my glasses on.... 